Previewing South Korea’s Presidential Election

South Korea’s upcoming presidential election could see sweeping changes to the country’s domestic and foreign policy due to the main candidates’ divergent views on how to address pressing economic issues and balance Seoul’s relations with China and the United States. On Feb. 15, the campaign period officially kicked off for South Korea’s March 9 presidential election. The top two candidates are Lee Jae-myung from the ruling center-left Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Yoon Suk Yeol from the conservative People’s Power Party (PPP), who are each currently polling at around 35-40%. Lee supports government-led economic development and a foreign policy agenda that prioritizes maintaining dialogue with North Korea and China. Yoon, by contrast, supports more market deregulation and a foreign policy agenda that focuses on building a stronger security alliance with Japan and the United States.  ...